Someone Replaced Franklin Boulevard Speed Limit Signs, City Takes Them All Down

[image-1]There are no speed limits sign on Franklin Boulevard for now.

See, the street has a legal speed limit of 35 mph, but that's a sore spot for the neighborhood. Has been for years.

This week, a resident took action. Posing as a city worker (wearing a safety vest and hard hat), the man took down all 35-mph signs and replaced them with 25-mph signs.

Once the city learned this, Councilman Matt Zone got involved and then the Traffic Control Division stepped in to the remove the fake signs yesterday. Zone is aware of the long-running concerns with Franklin Boulevard traffic speed.

Anyone who drives Franklin with any regularity — especially on the way into downtown before work — knows how crazy it can get. Drivers often fly down the street at close to 50 mph. (I once saw an SUV speeding like all hell in the other lane — for multiple blocks.) In the summer, tree branches grow so densely around traffic lights that, in some cases, drivers aren't able to see that they're approaching a red light.

Rogue Sign Guy, as some have referred to him, may have provided the flash point needed to actually change the rules of the road on Franklin. Recall that in 2013 a group of "guerilla stripers" took to Detroit Avenue and installed their own bike line striping. Not too long after that, the city brought bike lanes to Detroit for real.

The Franklin Boulevard speed limit signs will be back at some point, it seems, though the cost to replace them is around $2,000, according to WEWS. Scene left a message with the city's Public Works office this morning.